DJ Hero - 360 - Preview 2

With the rhythm game genre beginning
to dwindle in popularity, it's pretty easy to see that gamers are getting a
little tired of the same old band mechanics. While there are some die-hards out
there who run to pick up every little spin-off the Rock Band or Guitar Hero
franchise (myself included), it's safe to say that the genre has hit a plateau
since the introduction of full bands. Luckily, Activision and developer
Freestyle Games are looking to stir things up a bit with their upcoming game, DJ
Hero. Featuring a huge setlist with a great blend of electronica artists,
rappers, and pop stars, DJ Hero gives players a chance to try their hands at
spinning records and creating mixes courtesy of a new DJ controller. GameZone
recently received a demo build of the game along with the controller, and took
it out for a spin (pun intended). The game was both challenging and intuitive,
which is a fine recipe for an entry to the genre.

The demo build features four songs
total, three for the solo DJ portion of the game, and one for DJ
Controller/Guitar co-op. Additionally, Expert mode was disabled in the preview,
but that wasn't too big of an issue since Hard mode was quite challenging on its
own. The three mixes in the demo were pretty good mash-ups of artists like Rick
James, Gwen Stefani, Black Eyed Peas, and the Gorillas that help to acclimate
you into the gameplay.

The game's difficulty level is
pretty high going in, but the controller and highway interface is quite
intuitive and never feels overly complex. The basic gameplay as a general
appearance of other Activision rhythm games, requiring you to perform specific
actions as they hit the bottom of the note highway. There are three buttons on
the turntable section, which you push at certain times for solid notes, or hold
down for scratching portions. The green button on the very left represents on
track, while the blue represents the other song in the mix, with the red button
in the middle being used for samples. As you do well in a mix, you'll unlock a
rewind function that lets you spin your turntable back in order to redo a
section for a higher score.

On the other half of the controller
is the crossfader, the euphoria button (similar to star power in the Guitar Hero
games) and an effects changer. The crossfader is used more heavily than the
other buttons on this side of the controller, as the mixes require you to switch
between the green and blue tracks at different points. The effects changer
selects between a grouping of preset samples that the player can use during
specific red sections of the highway. The layout is quite simple, but the
challenge comes from trying to balance all of these elements together, which is
difficult. However, anyone who's slightly familiar with DJing should find this
to be a pretty natural setup.

The guitar/DJ mix is pretty much
what you'd expect. One player controls the DJ controller, performing the same
crossfading, sampling, scratching functions as the regular game, while another
player uses a Guitar Hero controller to play along to the other part of the
track. The guitar/DJ mix in the demo was Beastie Boys - Sabotage vs. Foo
Fighters - Monkey Wrench, with the DJ mixing Sabotage and the guitar player
hammering out the notes to Monkey Wrench. The note layout for the guitar was
just like that in Guitar Hero, meaning that fans of that game will feel right at
home with these tracks.

Graphically, the game looks pretty
solid, and on track with other games in the "Hero" lineup. The preview build
only had two playable DJ characters and one venue, but the look was good and
featured some nice lighting and color features and felt like a club environment.

While the demo was pretty short, it
did give us a great taste of what DJ Hero has to offer, namely a unique take on
the rhythm game genre, and an addicting and challenging one at that. Keep an eye
out for it